


Going Through Changes

by AFY2018



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - College/University, College, College Student, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2019-11-15 09:40:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18070967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AFY2018/pseuds/AFY2018
Summary: If you are taking prompts, how about a Nyssara AU...no League no Gambit. I just don’t want these two to suffer. College meeting.~CanaryLance





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CanaryLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanaryLance/gifts).



[Aug. 24th, 2020]

It was very early, that Monday morning, when Sara woke up. The curtain, being partially closed, revealed the sun’s strong rays. She glanced over to her roommate, Samantha Santos, who was still sound asleep. Sara slid out of her bed and quietly got changed, taking a moment to turn off her alarm so it would not go off. She grabbed her bag and books before swiping her wallet, keys, and phone. It was almost completely quiet in the dorms. She could hear some muffled conversations as she made her way down the hall. There was a student in the lobby, working as a campus officer and another working the desk.

Sara waved and continued to the cafeteria. The campus had a few students walking around, but most were either already in class or just getting ready for another early morning class. Even the breeze was calm and tired, barely grazing through the trees. The building’s lights were still on like stars to pave the way through the university. Sara gazed at the stars that still lightly speckled the sky. She tried to find the familiar constellations before they disappeared into the daylight. 

Sara made her way into the cafeteria where there were only five other students getting breakfast as they waited for their day to begin. Sara walked in line to buy a breakfast burrito and a bottle of orange juice.

She peeled back the thin shiny wrapper and made her way to her classroom. There were more students walking around as she made her way through the campus and to the F Building. The professor’s offices were mostly dark with only one person in their room - that Sara could see. She made her way to her classroom. Still fifteen minutes ahead, Sara walked into the almost empty classroom. Her Professor stood at the podium-desk next to his notes and a pile of syllabi, just waiting to start the new semester. Professor Wright was a portly old man with a bulbous nose that hooked at the end. His dark eyes were full of life as he waited for the lecture hall to fill up and the hour to pass over.

Sara sat in the middle of the hall as the seats around her quickly filled up. She was surprised to see the number of women in the class. From what she could see, there was about one girl for every three boys in there with her. The moment the thin black minute hand on the clock at the back of the classroom ticked over the twelve, Professor Wright sprung to life.

“Good morning class. Welcome back.” He called out to his students. “I would like to start with those on the waitlist. Raise your hands so I can see… who or how many I need to add,” He quickly corrected, counting the seven students on the waitlist. “Okay. After class come up and I’ll email you the add code. Now,” He sighed, grabbing a stack of papers, “time for my favorite part, the syllabus.” He handed it to a blonde boy up in the front of the row and walked back to his desk. “Now, I have a PDF on canvas if there aren’t enough to go around. The important dates and my office hours are on the front. My rules of the classroom are on the second page, my recommended resources- all free- are listed in the very back. In the middle, you will find the description for your Final, your Midterm, and your three research papers. There isn’t any homework for this class. Show up to the lectures and you will pass. I take attendance once that hand reaches 8:00. If you are late to class because of reasons you cannot control, call, text, and email in that order with evidence Like hospital wrist band, pictures of your car troubles, et cetera. Any questions?”

A few students began to ask questions. Someone asked about the way he wanted the assignments turned in, another asked about the late policy. As important as these questions and answers were, Sara felt like something was off. She glanced around the slanted beige room and found a pair of dark chocolate eyes watching her. Her father had always taught her to be vigilant to any threat, especially on campus, but as she glanced at the person staring at her, she just nodded in their direction, feeling no malice, just curiosity from them.

There was a young woman with dark brown hair pulled back in a tight bun. She had tan golden skin that was mostly covered with by a dark green sweatshirt that said “CCRI Knights”; the rest was too small for Sara to read. The woman quickly glanced at another student in the room with her, twirling her pencil around her fingers.

Sara tore her gaze away from her and focused back on her professor. Wright was talking about his thoughts on social media for some reason, making Sara wish she’d learned the context to this rant. By studying how he spoke, Sara could tell that this guy was a rambler as the reviews on Rate My Professor had warned, but he was the highest rated professor for this class, so she decided that she’d just have to sit through it. Of all types of professors to have, “The Rambler” was not the worst kind at all.

Lost in her thoughts, Sara missed whatever Professor Wright had said to end the class. She quickly gathered her belongings and headed to the cafeteria. On her way there, she passed by the art wing. There was a glinting and sparkling piece that caught her eye from one of the hallways. She followed the way down, taking a quick moment to explore the small art garden.

There was a large glittering glass mosaic wall. It was a beautiful piece reflecting the native flora and fauna of New Jersey. There was a deer and a fox by the river with a fish hopping out. The colors were beautiful, with iridescent glass on the birds and trees, bronze for the deer, and a fiery amber for the fox.

Sara glanced at her phone to check the time, she still had an hour and forty minutes until her next class, great to get food from Jeepers. She headed back out of the art garden and to the casual restaurant. Sara had been there before because it came with her meal plan. Jeepers was a fun place with a lot of seating for the students. She kind of wondered how busy it was going to be.

Walking into Jeepers, Sara spotted a familiar face by the windows on the barstool. It was that girl in the forest green sweater. Even though her back was turned to her, Sara could still tell it was her. She decided to grab a bite before the lines got too long and sit next to her. They could swap numbers just in case either of them missed a class.

Sara walked in line and ordered an Asian chicken wrap, grabbed a bag of original Skinny Pop, a banana, and a bottle of water. She waited behind a string bean guy who could not have been any taller than Sara herself. He had a slight frame with messy brown hair. When he turned to look back at Sara, she first noticed his thick sharp brown eyebrows, then his wide and inviting smile.

“Hey.” He greeted.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

The young man shrugged and grabbed his food. “Pretty good. I just got out of my first college class.” He finished with an excited smile.

Sara couldn’t help but smile back. “So this is your first year?” She asked paying for her meal.

“Yeah! I’m Barry, Barry Allen.” He introduced, quickly reaching over to shake her hand.

“Hey, Barry, I’m Sara Lance.” She smiled. “I’m a Junior here.”

“Really?”

“Yup.” She answered, taking her food and thanking the cashier. “Did you get the turkey club?”

“Yeah, why?”

“No reason.” She shrugged, “Bye Barry.”

“Wait, why?” He asked again.

Sara chuckled to herself, just pulling his leg. She walked to the window where her classmate was sitting and took the spot to her left. The girl looked at Sara, tearing her focus away from the textbook in front of her.

“Hey, you’re in my Ethics class right?” Sara inquired.

“Yeah, I’m Nyssa.” She greeted, closing her book.

“Sara, without an H.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“So Criminal Justice major, too?”

“Yeah. I’m here for my masters before I join the UN Security Force.”

“Same here, but I want to join the CIA or the FBI. What’s the UN Security Force?”

“The part I want to join in is the Blue Berets, it’s their armed forces. They’re also known as the Peacekeepers. They help protect people like the victims of African raiders and ISIS.”

“Wow.”

“What about you?”

“I want to become an agent. Hey, do you want to swap numbers, you know just in case one of us misses class?”

“Oh, yeah, sounds good to me.”

Sara reached into her backpack and pulled out a pencil and pad of sticky notes. She quickly jotted down her phone number, email, and name before peeling it off and handing it to Nyssa.

“So what’s CCRI?” She asked while entering the number into her phone.

“Community College of Rhode Island.”

“Oh wow, that’s a long ways away.”

“Yeah, but I really wanted to get out of there,” Nyssa sighed. “What about you. Where are you from?”

“New York.”

“Wow, I’ve always wanted to go there! What’s it like?”

“I mean, it’s a mix. One moment you’re in the city and the next you’re in the suburban hills, then you’re in another state. What about Rhode Island, I’ve never been there.”

“I mean, really it’s a tiny state that it mostly a bay then another state almost right away.” She joked, glancing at the clock on her phone. “Well, I have to go. I’ll see you around, Sara.”

“See you, Nyssa.” Sara smiled, not partaking in her meal as Nyssa walked away.

As Nyssa walked away, Sara’s phone went off in her pocket. A text lit up from her phone with the message “Hey Sara, it’s Nyssa.”

Sara texted back, “Hey, dude”, before adding her into her contacts as, ‘Nyssa (The Cute Girl)’. She glanced at her phone and continued to eat her lunch.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was her third and final class of the day and Sara was actually kind of glad. She walked to the building and went down the hallway to her last class. She was glad to have ceramics between her major classes because it was a nice break. Sara walked into the classroom and sat down in the middle with a few other students. She set up her belongings, getting ready to write down her schedule and organized her planner, highlighting the two syllabi she placed on her desk. Someone tapped on her shoulder, making Sara glance up at them. It was Nyssa again. Sara quickly moved her backpack out of the chair next to her and smiled up at her.

“You stalking me, Nyssa?” She joked.

“I mean you saved me a spot.” She taunted back. “Were you expecting me?”

Sara chuckled and went back to fixing her planner as their teacher spoke to a few students. She glanced at her phone, two minutes before class, and their professor had already begun to hand out the syllabus and a few other papers. Once they made their round to Sara and Nyssa, it seemed that the extra papers were meant to introduce the students to their teacher. It was a Getting-to-Know-You page off of the internet. Sara filled out the survey and re-read her answers again.

“Alright, I want you to go to seven people and learn their name and one thing off of that paper.” He proclaimed, sitting back in his chair.

Sara turned to Nyssa and asked, “What was your first pet’s name?”

“Levi, he was a frog. What about you?”

“I had a Canary named Tweedie.”

“Like Tweety bird?”

“Yeah.” Sara chuckled writing Nyssa’s answer by the question.

She then went to a six other classmates of hers, learning that a boy named Nicola was born in Montana, a girl named Denise is a Pisces, another boy named James wanted to be a farmer growing up, Rachel has four siblings, Evan would want to rename himself, Charles, and Alex played bass in a Math-Rock band. It was fun, much more fun than Sara thought it would be. She was glad that she could keep the paper, it was interesting to learn more about her peers. As their class ended, they packed their belongings and began out the door.

“Hey, Nyssa, you wanna get something to eat at the cafeteria?” Sara asked, trying to catch up with her.

“Oh, yeah.”

“So, judging by your community college, I’m guessing that you’re not a local.” Sara wondered on their way.

“Yeah, I’m staying in University Court.”

“Really? Me, too. I’m in building 8.”

“Building 2.”

“So, what are you getting?”

“I haven’t tried their pasta choices yet.” Nyssa shrugged.

“Might I recommend the manicotti? It’s stuffed with ricotta and Italian sausage. It’s really filling.”

“How much do you get?” Nyssa asked pulling out her wallet.

“Like,” Sara began trying to size it up with her hands, “this big, and you get two.”

“Wow… I mean I’ve never had the manicotti?”

“Yeah, and they’re really good. Especially the ones they make here.”

“I think I’ll get it then. What about you?”

Sara glanced at the menu and shrugged. “I’m gonna get a burrito, or… nah, I’ll just stick with a Ceasar salad. After this, we should head back to the dorms.”

“Oh, why?”

“They close at 8:30.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s in, like, fifteen minutes.” Nyssa nodded before going up to order.

“So,” Sara began, unfolding a paper in her pocket, “while our food’s getting ready. ‘What is your favorite holiday?’”

“The questionnaire?”

“Yup.”

“Halloween. You?”

“Christmas.”

“Wasn’t one of the questions, like, what’s your least favorite holiday?”

“Yeah, mine’s Christmas again.”

“Why?”

Because my birthday’s Christmas day and it’s kind of annoying to constantly be compared to Jesus by religious friends, the antichrist by regular friends, and a Christmas miracle by distant family.”

“I bet you only got Christmas presents, too. Not much of a birthday celebration?”

“Yeah. No parties either because everyone traveled for the holidays.”

“So,” Nyssa asked glancing at the paper. “You can hotwire a car?”

“Yeah.”

“How’d you learn that?”

“From some friends in high school.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. What’s a weird fact about you?”

“Well, it’s not really weird more as it’s just a fact about me.”

“Anything will do.”

“Well, I did jujitsu until high school.”

“Really? Why’d you stop?” Sara asked grabbing their food.

“I started wrestling. It became too much to play a sport and do another one outside of school. Did you play any sports in high school?”

“No, but I did use to fight. It helped that had learned some basic skills from my dad.”

“Wait, like fist fighting?”

“Yeah, I’d fight for money.”

“Wow, were you good?”

“My stats were pretty good. I could beat most people, but I wasn’t great, just had a lot of stamina.”

“I did not expect that from you, you look like… well like…”

“A princess? Yeah, just to the public, but in private I’m not so nice and proper.” She joked.

“Are you a secret queen of underground fighting rings?”

“Depends, are you gonna 21 Jump Street me?”

Nyssa rolled her eyes and took a bite of the manicotti. “Oh wow, that’s pretty damn good!”

“I know right?” Sara chuckled looking at the paper again. “So, we did one weird fact, siblings?”

“I have an older sister, Talia, and a younger brother, Saracon.” She told her, rounding the corner to University Court.

“I have an older sister, too, Laurel.”

“So what’s she up to?”

“She’s a lawyer. Right now she’s working for a small company. Last time she texted me, she said that she was getting ready for her first case defending a divorce settlement.”

“Wow, my sister works for my Dad’s business and my brother’s kind of AWOL, well to my dad and Talia, that is. My turn.” Nyssa said changing the subject to look at the paper. “If you could rename yourself what would it be?”

“Sara with an H.”

“So people don’t-”

“Don’t get my name wrong, yeah. What about you?”

“Amaal, I don’t know I just wrote down a random name.”

“Why Amaal first?”

“It’s a common name in my community.” She shrugged as they came upon the dorms. “Well, this is my stop.”

“Mine, too.”

“See you on Wednesday?”

“Yeah, I’m not planning on dropping any classes, so.”

“Alright, night, Sara without an H.”

“Night, Amaal,” Sara smirked, going to her dorm.

She went into the dorm and began to room 124. She took out her card key and placed it against the sensor, waiting for the beep, the green light, and the sound of the lock clicking out of place. She walked into the low lit room to see her roommate and “Big Sister” Sam Santos on her bed with her blankets pulled up her legs, her laptop slapped onto her stomach as she typed something onto the keyboard. Her hood was pulled over her head. She glanced around her device at Sara and gave her a large smile and closed the lid. Sam sat up and took a swig from her hydro flask.

“How was the first day?”

“Good. I met a new student who’s in my first and last class.”

“Cool.”

“What about you?”

“Very easy, so far.” She smirked brandishing her laptop.

“When’s your next class?”

“Well I have an online lecture at 9 and then an art class at noon, and finally my history classes back to back from 2 to 6.”

“I have the same schedule.”

“I don’t know how you do the early bird-night owl schedule.” Sam huffed.

“I enjoy it. Hey, when’s our first meeting?”

“It’s Sunday at noon. We have to sign up for shifts for Club Day.”

“Don’t we also have to elect a new leader?”

“Oh yeah, well, in the Spring.”

“Ally texted me that she wanted to start early.” Sara inquired, looking at her phone. “Dina said that they were talking about it… anyway, I don’t know though.”

“They’ll decide soon enough.” Sam sighed looking down at her laptop and opened it up again. “Oh, so about your new friend, what’s she like?”

“She’s nice and weirdly serious and laid back at the same time.”

“Sounds mysterious.”

“I don’t know about that. She’s a criminal justice major like myself,” Sara shrugged pulling on her pajamas, “she seems kind of nerdy though.”

“Sounds like a good girl,” Sam noted peeking up from her laptop.

Sara paused halfway pulling her shirt on. “It’s not like that.”

“Okay, okay, that’s not what you said about Riley Appletree.”

“First of all, it’s Riley Oglesbee. Second, he wasn’t too bad.”

“He was one of the messiest people I had ever met.”

“I liked him, he was really nice.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah… we went out to sushi a lot.” Sara shrugged.

“You liked him because he took you out for food and bought you stuff.”

“Yup.” She huffed sliding onto her bed.

“Honestly, I don’t blame you… but I do judge you.” Sam chuckled opening up a bag of kettle corn Popchips.

“You know I can’t let just you eat those.”

“I know.” She nodded scooting over for Sara.


	2. Chapter 2

[Oct. 23rd, 2020]

 

A loud buzzing next to Nyssa’s head abruptly woke her from her slumber. Fridays were her only day to sleep in before Crossfit Club. She first ignored the text until another buzz went off. And then another. Nyssa had had enough. She just got up and looked at her alarm clock, it was only 7:49, so not too early in the morning. Nyssa glanced at her phone, seeing that Sara had texted her twice. The first text asked if she was awake. The next text asked if she wanted to hang out before her club meeting. 

 

Nyssa got up and looked out of the window to the grassy area between their buildings. She spotted Sara sitting in the grass with her sunglasses on. Nyssa glanced at her roommate, Ashley, seeing her bed was still empty.

 

She opened up the window and called down to Sara, “I’ll be down in just a bit.”

 

Sara nodded and continued to rest in the cool fall sun. 

 

Nyssa quickly got dressed and grabbed her laptop, hoping to get some ideas for her research paper. She quickly went down to the ground floor and briskly walked out to where Sara was resting.

 

“What a nerd,” Sara joked. “You ready to go?”

 

“Yeah, and I was hoping to get some work done while we were together.”

 

“Together?”

 

“Hanging out.”

 

“I know, I know. Let’s go.” She smiled, looking as her friend became slightly flustered at her own phrasing. “I’m just messing with you, Nyssa.”

 

“Yeah, I was just… nevermind, so, how’s it going with your paper?” She quickly changed, trying to keep stuff together.

 

“It’s… almost done.”

 

“It’s due next week.”

 

“I’ll finish it soon. I don’t have anything until Saturday.”

 

During their walk to the park, Nyssa had time to think about Sara. Something about Lance always threw her off. In their friendship of two months, she had gotten used to her jokes and sarcastic innuendos, but some things Nyssa almost hoped she meant. It was Sara’s confidence, Nyssa thought, it was just infectious and seemed to exude independent strength. Even as they walked down the path to the park, Sara had a powerful gaite and confident posture. Nyssa watched as Sara focused on their current conversation on their class.

 

“Oh, my God, Professor Zajonc is so boring. I keep on trying to stay awake, but he just reads from his freaking notes.” Sara complained as they crossed a bridge.

 

“I feel like he would have more interesting things to say if he just looked up from his notes.”

 

“I know, right?” She chuckled.

 

“Hey, how’d you do on the last quiz?”

 

“I got 6 out of 6, you?”

 

“4 out of 6. I just wasn’t sure on a few of the questions.”

 

“Don’t worry, I kinda guessed on some of them.”

 

They continued down the road to the park, finally getting to the clearing and to the neat park. There were a few people there. A father and his daughter were by the play structure and some students were playing ultimate frisbee. Sara walked over to a picnic table and sat down with Nyssa. Under the large and shady evergreen, Nyssa pulled out her laptop and opened up her research paper.

 

“Can you read it through for me? You know, help me my grammar.” Nyssa asked.

 

“Sure, dude.” Sara agreed, taking her laptop and reading it through. “Woah.”

 

“What?”

 

“Your google drive,” Sara explained, turning it around.

 

“What about it?”

 

“It’s…” Sara began but just turned the laptop around again. “Really organized. There are a bunch of folders in here.”

 

Nyssa rolled her eyes as she watched her read through her paper. Sara asked a few questions about her grammar and sentence structure. Nyssa gave her the go-ahead, enjoying watching her as she read. The way Sara hunched over to read, how she tugged at her bottom lip with her fingers. A few times, she furrowed her brows and fixed a few words. Once she finished, she slid the computer back to Nyssa and let her read her revision.

 

“What are you doing on Halloween?” Sara asked.

 

“Am I free on Halloween?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I should be, why?”

 

“Well, Alpha Sigma Tau is having a party and I would love it if you joined me.”

 

“Your sorority party?” Nyssa chuckled, closing her laptop. “Alright. Do we get to dress up?”

 

“We have to.”

 

“Okay,” Nyssa began, standing up, “well, while you are working on your research paper, you can think of some costumes. Text me what you think of. I still have CrossFit, so, hopefully, I can hear from you soon. Once you finish your paper.”

 

“Okay.” Sara sighed, hugging her. “I’ll finish it as quickly as I can.”

 

They walked back through the path to the campus, following the beaten path to their dorms. Sara parted first, going straight to her room to power through the last few pieces of her paper. She agreed that Nyssa was a good friend, it was just that there really was something about her that seemed to be hidden. Sara sighed and changed into some more athletic clothes before biking to the student center to print out her paper. She really liked that they redesigned the center. It was more modern and they had added more comfortable chairs to sit in.

 

Sara sat down at one of the computers and logged in, waiting as the screen cracked to life and brought her to the desktop. She glanced at the corner of the screen where her name was. Sara quickly pulled up Safari and logged into her profile in order to print out her assignment. As it printed out, she grabbed her phone from her jacket pocket and texted Nyssa.

 

“Finished. How’s it going on your end?”

 

Sara waited for an answer, remembering that Nyssa was still working out. She went to the printer and stapled the seven pages together. She made her way out of the warm building and down the steps to her bike. Gripping the paper between her teeth, Sara biked back to the dorms, passing by campus security and other students by the cafeteria and the music building. She finally got to the dorms and locked her bike up, walking to her room and setting it on her desk.

 

Sara really wasn’t sure what to do with the rest of her day. Sam was in her Comms class and afterward, she had a Chem lecture, so she wouldn’t be back for about 2 more hours. Even then, She said she was going on an anniversary date with her boyfriend, Artie.

 

Sara glanced at her alarm clock and fell onto her bed. She was already dressed in her gym clothes, so she could work out, try to fight off that freshman fifteen. She had two whole days to visit the Wellness Center- or the Well- out by the football field, so with a little ride, she could be there in fifteen to twenty minutes. Sara grabbed her sweatshirt and a cinch bag with her water bottle and a towel, dropping her phone and wallet in their last.

 

She left the dorm to Sam’s green and violet bike, trying not to waste a moment. Sara sped through the campus, passing by guards and students in a flash as she quickly raced to the Well. She walked up to the blue and white building. The tall glass windows on the second floor exposed the vacant treadmills and bikes. On the other side was the window to the classroom currently hosting a TRX class. The red line that highlighted the floors on the building and the red glass door stuck out even more so on the cloudy day.

 

Sara locked up her bike and walked into the Well, using her student ID to unlock the bar by the front desk. Some new girl with bright red hair and a few freckles was sitting as the receptionist. She had a friendly smile as she greeted Sara.

 

Sara smiled back at her and continued to the locker room, placing her stuff in a random locker and locking it up before heading out to the floor. She started with her cardio workout first, hopping on a treadmill and running at 6.5 miles per hour. She enjoyed running, it was her favorite part about getting caught, the chase. 

 

When she was still in high school, Sara would hang out with a few questionable kids and get into some pretty harsh crimes. Grand theft auto attempted grand theft auto, larceny, attempted larceny, battery, possession of drugs, possession of a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon. She was lucky that she was a fast runner and only got caught when they had their fight club. She remembered the long conversation she had with her dad in his office that day. Afterward, they signed her up for track and field. It was like she was in middle school all over again.

 

She had to admit that it was fun, but the old adrenaline rush of getting caught was what made her such a good runner. Really, she would kind of mess around during practice. She’d also try not to tell her parents when practice got canceled so she could have her old fun again.

 

Sara finished up the last two and a half miles with a jog. She moved onto her free weights. Wishing that she brought her own music because now someone was playing some “Yee-haw” country music, Sara suffered the full country trucks, beer, and tits song that played over the speaker.

 

Sara enjoyed many types of music, namely hard rock and house music, but she really couldn’t stand country music. She just decided to focus on her weighted burpees. It took a moment before she noticed, but the CrossFit club was working out in the empty lot outside of the Wellness Center.

 

She spotted Nyssa standing by her friends, her arms crossed under her chest as a man in a neon green shirt and black shorts talked to her. Sara watched as she walked to a resistance band, clipping a belt around her waist and began running, the bands getting pulled taut as she ran, fighting against the drag of the bands. Nyssa’s legs struggled as they tried to launch her ahead, but she couldn’t gain any more ground. She slowed down and unclipped the belt before going to the bar and doing deadlifts.

 

Sara let out a tired sigh and went back to her work out. She found that Nyssa was a surprisingly fun person. In their time together, they had become fast friends, but there was something, Sara also had to admit, that she found endearing about Nyssa. She had talked to Sam about her feelings, but she knew that there was something about Nyssa that she just couldn’t place.

 

Though, truth be told, Sara really didn’t have time for a relationship. With her time split between school, her on-campus job, and Alpha Sigma Tau, there was very little time for her to really hang out with Nyssa or even to have time for herself. Her current project in ceramics proved to be a bit more time consuming than she had originally planned, so she had been spending most of her free time over the past two weeks making her midterm sculpture.

 

When she would usually not care about leaving her Sisters or Big behind for school, Sara actually felt bad for not telling Nyssa when she wouldn’t be there for lunch or breakfast. She wondered why she felt this about her, why blowing off Nyssa made her feel like she was letting her down. Why being around this quiet woman made her want to be a better person, something Laurel was never able to do.

 

Sara quickly finished off her workout with another round of cardio before heading off to the locker room. She was so glad that she came to FDU because the amenities they had for normal students was amazing. The dorms were fairly nice, the food was cheap but good, and the Well was really nice, even the locker room was always clean.

 

Sara walked into the red, blue, and white accented room. She went to her blue locker and pulled out a towel, shampoo, soap, and hairbrush. She pulled off her clothes, folding them up in her locker and closed the door, wrapping the green and teal CostCo towel around her hips.

 

“Sara?” A polite voice echoed through the almost silent room.

 

Sara turned around to face Nyssa. “Hey, how was your workout?” She asked crossing her arms over her breasts.

 

“It was good, tiring, but good.” She chuckled wiping her sweaty forehead before drying it off on her red shirt. “Yours?”

 

“Fun.”

 

“Good… nice abs by the way,” She complimented, “I wish I could get washboard abs like that.”

 

Sara moved her arms and looked down at her abs. “Thanks, lots of brawls.” She joked, bringing her fists in front of her face in a mock fighting stance.

 

Nyssa chuckled softly, walking over to her locker. “So, any ideas for the Halloween party?”

 

“Oh, Mermaidman and Barnacle Boy or maybe, like, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn? Bob Ross and a Painting? Rick and Morty? Peter Pan and his shadow?”

 

“I like the Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy one, but could we do the DC Bombshells version?”

 

“M’kay.” Sara shrugged. “I only know the original outfits.”

 

“I think you’ll like the DC Bombshells rendition.”

 

“Okay.” She chuckled. “I’m gonna go take a shower, but maybe we can go shopping after?”

 

“Yeah, I’m free after this.” She nodded, pulling off her clothes and grabbing her toiletries bag.

 

Sara glanced at Nyssa’s muscular legs and arms before tearing her eyes away and walking to one of the stalls. She hated it when she did creepy things like that. Nyssa did have a really beautiful body, but she knew what it felt like to be ogled. Sara closed the curtain behind herself and turned on the cold water.

 

Nyssa glanced at her friend as she walked to the shower. She found herself again, drawn to her, but she only punished herself for feeling that way about Sara. She was a friend, nothing more. Just a friend, even though she did like her. Sara was funny and kind, she cared so much about her Sisters and saw how she helped people without question. It surprised her when Sara talked about how she had been a selfish troubled teen when she was the exact opposite now.

 

Even being with Abbey, she couldn’t help but think about Sara. Abbey was nice but Sara was perfect.

 

No time to think about that now, she could hear Sara turn off her shower and walk out. Nyssa quickly washed up and brushed her hair. She glanced over at Sara who was pulling on her jeans and a thick dark green sweater. She quickly wrapped her towel around her torso before changing into her own clothes.

 

“So, which one do you wanna be?” Sara asked pulling on her sneakers.

 

“I really don’t care.” She shrugged, pulling her hair back into a ponytail.

 

“Well, as far as friends go, you’re the mysterious sexy one and I’m the crazy one, so how does Poison Ivy sound for you?”

 

“I like it.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Nyssa glanced over from her computer to Ashley. She was reading a book, a pen in her left hand and three highlighters of different colors sticking out of her mouth.

 

“Hey, Ash, can I ask you something?”

 

“Hmm?” She asked taking the markers out of her mouth. “Sure. What’s up?”

 

“I’m having some dating troubles.”

 

“Ooh, I’m not good with the gay stuff.” She confided.

 

“It’s literally like straight relationships.” Nyssa sighed closing her laptop. “I’m with Abbey, you know.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“But… I’m having some feelings for another friend.”

 

“Oh, who?”

 

“One of my classmates, Sara.”

 

“Oh, a classmate?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“How often do you see her?”

 

“Well I have a class with her every day except Friday, but we still hang out then before I go to my club meetings. Then we get together again on Sunday and workout.”

 

“Wow. That’s a lot of time together.”

 

“Yeah, but I like it.”

 

“Well, if you like her, then you’re already following the first rule of trying to date someone.”

 

“Which is?”

 

“Propinquity.”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“When you see someone all the time, you are more likely to develop feelings for them. What else do you guys do?”

 

“Well, we eat dinner and lunch together most of the time or go to the park and play ultimate frisbee. She’s really good at it.” She smiled.

 

“Yeah… well, you’re probably feeling things for her because you guys hang out all the time.”

 

“Well then, psych major, what do I do?”

 

“What do you want to do?”

 

“I would love to ask her out, but I don’t know if she feels the same way about me.”

 

“Well, the best thing to do is to ask her out then.”

 

“What about Abbey?”

 

“Well, that’s your problem, but don’t date two people at the same time. I’ve done that before and it’s super messy.”

 

“I think I’ll just wait it out then. Maybe if I spend less time with Sara outside of class then I can get refocused on Abbey, again.”


	3. Chapter 3

[Oct. 31st, 2020]

Nyssa hopped on her bike and sped back to the dorms. They only had an hour before the party and she wanted as much time as possible to not get into that outfit- even though she picked it out herself. She sped down the small dirt trail and through the tall shady oak trees before getting back on University Road. Nyssa swung her leg over the bike, slowing down to lock it up before hopping off of the pedal and taking out her keys.

“Hey!” A voice playfully called over from the first floor of building 8.

Nyssa turned around and waved at her. “Sorry, the meeting was longer than expected. I’ll be thereover in a few.” She explained, threading the lock through and around her bike in four complex twists.

“Okay, I have makeup and our costumes, so you can just come straight over.”

“Can I climb through the window?” Nyssa joked locking her bike up.

Sara unhooked the mesh cover from her window and nodded, “Yeah.”

“Wait, really?”

“Why not?”

“M’kay.” She shrugged to herself, jogging over to the window. “Nice that you can open your window all the way,” Nyssa smirked, climbing through the sill.

She stumbled over the ledge that poked out from the window by four inches. Sara dropped the mesh cover and caught her. Nyssa grabbed onto her shoulders, laughing before swinging her other leg over the window.

“Damn,” she chuckled. “I thought I could clear it.”

Sara laughed and grabbed the screen, locking it back into place. “Well, at least you tried.”

“Fuckin’ sucked, though.” She smirked taking off her jacket. 

“Woah, what your fucking language.” Sara joked, “I must be a bad influence on you because I don’t think I’ve ever heard you curse.”

“Yup, you’re the worst,” She jibbed back, “So, where’s my costume?”

“On my bed,” Sara answered placing the final latch on the screen before closing and locking the window. “You’re gonna look fucking sexy in that, just by the way.” She told her, drawing the blinds.

“Why thank you.”

“No problem.”

Sara took her costume and began to change into it. She took out her own jeans and the bullet belt that came with the outfit. Her top was just a black and red bra with a black diamond- like that on a playing card- over her left breast. She took off her shirt and bra and pulled on her costume top.

“How’s it going with Abbey?” Sara asked.

“Oh, umm… it’s a bit complicated.” Nyssa shrugged.

“How? What happened?”

“It’s been hard being apart, I mean, she goes to UCLA over in California and I’m just here… It’s fine, I mean, it’s not, but it’s fine.”

“Tell me about it. They don't care if we’re late.” Sara shrugged sitting on her bed.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, we’ll just be fashionably late,” she reassured her.

“Okay,” Nyssa agreed and sat next to her. “I just feel like we’re growing apart now. We barely talk to each other and the last time I saw her was before I left home. I guess the only reason I haven’t broken up with her is that she’s really a great person, the distance just isn’t working for us anymore.”

“How long have you guys together?”

“About 4 years. We met our freshman year of high school and started dating our junior year.”

“That’s great that you’ve had such a long relationship.”

“Yeah… I still feel bad for thinking this.”

“Well, why do you want to break up with her?”

“I just feel like we needed to grow… grow apart, I mean.” Nyssa replied with a long sigh.

“I mean, if you’re really feeling like that, then you should probably tell her.”

“Really?”

“If you don’t want to you don’t have to, but if you’re really feeling like that then-”

“Yeah, I should, Especially since my eyes have been wandering a bit too much.” She admitted, “I’ll break the news to her by Monday. She deserves someone better than me.”

“Oh, don’t say that. You’re a great person. You guys were together for so long and it’s totally normal to break up with your high school sweethearts,” Sara comforted, “You’re not horrible for wanting the best for her, Nyssa.”

“No?”

“Nope.” Sara smiled.

Nyssa glanced at Sara’s smile, but then at her lips. She wondered if Sara felt the same way. If she was also distracted in a mutual way. She almost decided to reach over and kiss her or just simply peck her cheek; she really wasn’t sure which one was better, but she was petrified by Sara’s intimidating gaze.

Sara launched herself from the bed to grab a long coat from her closet and tossed it at Nyssa. “You should wear this.”

“Thanks.” She said pulling on the jacket. “So how far away is the house?”

“Mm… about ten minutes? Maybe fifteen.” Sara called from the bathroom.

“Okay.”

Nyssa walked into the bathroom and began to apply her foundation and blush, going off a reference picture of women’s makeup during World War II. She glanced over at Sara, watching her put on the white powder around her face and her bright pink blush. Nyssa put on thick eyeliner and drew her eyebrows thinner. She then put on her bright red lipstick, handing it back to Sara afterward.

Sara took a bottle of black body paint they had bought the weekend before and opened it. She grabbed a thin-tipped brush and dipped it in before tilting Nyssa’s head to the side and painting a swirling vine-like design onto her cheek. After a few more moments, Nyssa took the paintbrush and painted a black spade under her friend’s eye.

“Perfect.”

“Thank you!” Sara smiled looking in the mirror. She slung her arm around Nyssa’s shoulder and looked at her friend’s reflection. “I’m so glad you chose this pairing.”

“Me, too,” She remarked off-handedly, “So, what’s Sam going as?”

“She’s dressing up as Bubbles, you know from the Powerpuff Girls?”

“Yeah. Is anyone doing it with her?”

“The Hearts twins.”

“Oh, are they the ones... The Legacy Twins?"

"Yeah. We should probably start heading over.''

“M’kay.” Nyssa agreed, zipping up her jacket. “Hey, Sara?”

“Yeah?” She asked turning around.

“... We’re gonna be the sexiest girls there.”

“Oh, hell yeah!” Sara laughed, grabbing her keys and heading out of the dorms.

They left the warm building to the cooler night and got onto their bikes, riding to the sorority house. It was a boring bike ride to the two-story house. Most people were partying around the different frats and the passed by at least three campus security cars and a cop car on their way to the white house with green and gold accents. It was decorated with fake spider webs and skeletons hanging from the drain pipe. There were orange and purple lights decorating the porch and garage of the home. Sara dismounted her bike and opened up the garage for them to put them in.

“I do not want to lose my bike again.”

“Again?” Nyssa asked.

“Yeah, apparently one of the Sigmas stole my bike.” She huffed locking the garage once they left.

They ascended the steps to the front door and walked in where the once muffled music was now blaring. The young Asian women who let them in was dressed as a scary witch. According to Sara, she was their Chapter Leader, the women’s history professor. She had asked Nyssa’s age, 20, and stamped the back of her hand with a black pumpkin. Sara instantly led her to the kitchen where many of the other girls were.

“Hey, Sara!” One of the girls exclaimed, hugging her.

“Sam, you look so cute!” She smiled. “This is Nyssa.”

“Hi, Nyssa.” The other girls greeted shaking her hand.

“Hey. Thank you for letting me come.”

“Thanks for coming!”

Some of the girls, Nyssa noticed, had green solo cups while Sara and most of the other girls had yellow ones. It must have been a way to discern who was drinking and who wasn’t. She liked that there was a lot of trust between them and Professor Nakamura.

During the night, Sara had introduced her to some of the girls, including their pledges. The four girls in the kitchen, Sam Riley Willa and Summer were all Fall pledges from 2017, a year before Sara. There was the “Old Lady Brigade” of Alisa Dina and their head Ally from the Fall of 2015 to the Spring of 2016. Tiff Jamie and Kate from 16-17, and then about fifteen more of the thirty girls who were apart of Alpha Sigma Tau.

Sara seemed to really enjoy being apart of this group. There was a playful and witty side of her that Nyssa hadn’t yet been able to see, and could tell that these girls around her were actually helping her grow.

One of the girls Nyssa met was Sara’s Little, Elise Johnson. Elise was a lanky sophomore with long red hair that turned blond at the tips. She was probably around 5’11” and had on a zombie outfit with fake blood coming out of her mouth. She had a sweet high voice and a permanent smile on her face, making her a little less intimidating.

“So you’re Nyssa?”

“You know me?”

“Sara talks nonstop about you,” Elise told her. “She loves spending time with you.”

“And time to meet someone else.” Sara nervously told Nyssa, steering her away.

“I love spending time with you, too, Sara.”

“Yup.” She smiled, patting her head. “Let’s get something to eat.”

“SIGMA PI STAY ALIVE!” A voice called through the house.

“Oh, god.”

“Sigma Pi?”

“Yup.”

“Were those the guys who stole your bike?”

“Yeah”

“Why are they here?”

“We party with them every Halloween and Christmas.”

A group of boys began to file in. There were ten of them who had on purple, white, and gold masks from party city that had different intricate designs. The others were dressed in different costumes except for a short man with wavy black hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. He was wearing a violet suit with a silver and gold vest and tie over a black button up. In his hand, he held a long white staff decorated with purple and gold with their crest on top.

“So who’s that?”

“Gary Trueheart.”

“He’s the leader?”

“Yup.”

“How is he?”

“He’s nice. They all are. There aren’t any boys right now who are horrible, they’re just annoying and rowdy sometimes. Like at our parties.” Sara ended in a sigh before drinking from her yellow cup. “Well, time to make more friends.”

Sara went over past the pledges, who were being talked to by Gary, to the other frat boys in the entryway. Many of them were already making their way to the kitchen and partaking in the booze and food that was laid out. This man dressed as Heath Ledger’s Joker began hitting on her. He had two green cups in his hands and was cheesily trying nerdy pickup lines on her.

He handed her the other cup and continued talking to her. Nyssa couldn’t explain it- well she could, she just wanted to deny it- but there was this fire in the pit of her stomach that licked at her heart, making it beat faster as she watched this lunk Sara barely knew flirt with her.

Lance must have felt eyes on her, because she turned around to Nyssa and handed the cup back to him, showing him her stamp. He nodded and backed away, placing the drink on the table behind him, one of the other boys immediately taking it. He continued to flirt with Sara, and she egged him on! Nyssa rolled her eyes, getting distracted when she felt an arm hook over her shoulder and steer her away from the scene.

“Hey, Nyssa. I gotta tell you something.” The student dressed as Bubbles told her in a serious tone. “Sara’s a free spirit. She enjoys freedom. She’s always been like that. It took a long time and restrictions to get her to this.”

“Have you been drinking, Sam?”

“Only a screwdriver, other than that, cola. I’m not much of a drinker.” She told Nyssa, walking to the bathroom. “I’m not trying to drive you away from her because she finds you attractive, but she’s still a roaming spirit, trying to figure everything out.”

“This isn’t making me feel better.”

“It’s not really supposed to. I’m just telling you what I know about Sara.”

“Thanks.” She sighed pulling Sam’s arm from around her shoulder. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Nyssa walked from the bathroom to the front hall where her coat was hanging. A hand wrapped around her arm, pulling her back gently.

“Hey, where are you going?” Sara asked.

“Home err back to the dorms.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Nyssa lied, “I’m tired.”

“Umm… well if you’re going back, then I’m coming with you.”

“No, stay here and have fun with the boys. I don’t wanna stop you.”

“If you don’t want me, then at least call campus security to escort you back. I don’t want you to go back alone.”

“Sara, just leave it alone.” She huffed walking out of the sorority house.

Lance followed her down, grabbing the keys from her pocket and unlocked the garage. “What’s going on, Nyssa?”

“NOTHING! Stop asking me!” She hissed back, hopping onto her bike and going back to their dorms.

Sara fumbled around to lock the garage and followed her back, not wanting to pressure her anymore. She could tell that Nyssa was upset, only an oblivious person wouldn’t realize that, but she also didn’t want to annoy her. Maybe tomorrow, they could talk about it. They biked in silence, only the whistling wind and distant parties filling their ears. They passed by their classes and the library, Jeepers and the cafeteria before finally getting to the dorms. Nyssa locked her bike up and handed the coat back to Sara.

“I’m sorry for acting like a bitch.” She whispered, taking out her key, wallet, and phone.

Sara took the jacket and shrugged. “It’s fine. I had a lot of fun. We’re still meeting on Sunday right?”

“Yeah.”

Sara reached over and embraced her briefly before going back to her room. Nyssa watched her leave before going up to her room. She quietly entered the dorm, trying not to wake up her roommate.

“How was the party?” Ash asked.

Nyssa sighed before answering. “It was good until I got jealous of a frat boy flirting with Sara.”

“Maybe next time then.”

“Yeah, if there is a next time.” She muttered, going to wash up in the bathroom and change into her pajamas.

She looked in the mirror, wiping off her foundation and blush, rubbing off the black paint. Her phone buzzed on the counter, almost falling off. She quickly grabbed it and checked the text. It was from “Lancelot” or Sara.

“Hey, I had a great time with you. I hope we can hang out again.”

Nyssa looked at the grey text bubble and let out a quick huff before turning off her phone.

Sara glanced at her phone after she sent her friend the text. She felt bad that Nyssa didn’t have as much fun. She searched through her contacts until she found Laurel and called her.

“Hey… what’s up?” A tired voice answered.

“Not much, just taking off my makeup.”

“Oh, you had that party tonight, right?”

“Yeah.”

“How’d it go?”

“Good, but then something happened and Nyssa got really mad. I don’t know why, though. I wish she would just tell me.”

“Well, what happened?”

“She seemed fine until Sig Pi came. Then her mood shifted. I just wish I could make it up to her.”

“Why don’t you text her?”

“I just did. It says read.”

“Ooh, left on read… what’d you say?”

“I said: “Hey, I had a great time with you. I hope we can hang out again”.”

“Sounds good enough, just don’t push her.”

“Okay. Night, Laurel.”

“Night, Sara.”

Sara ended the call and changed into a sweatshirt with her old high school’s name on it.

~~~~~~~~~~

Nyssa fiddled with her phone for a few moments. Sara was right about a few things last night. She was right that they had had fun, she was right about something being wrong, and she was right about breaking up with Abbey. Nyssa knew that Abbey would be up early- she always was, even though it was only 6:15 on the west coast. She wanted to respond to Sara but knew that the best thing to do would be to take care of business before continuing to disrespect someone she cared so much about.

Nyssa unlocked her phone and opened her contacts, scrolling down to “Abbey Bluegate”, and pressed on the contact. She had to admit that she hated confrontation, but this was a necessary step to take. As the rang, Nyssa, glanced at her Ashley who was side eyeing her from her laptop, headphones on while she had “An Ishmael of Syria” opened up next to her.

“Nyssa, how’s it going?” Abbey asked on the other side.

“Good.”

“You caught me at the perfect time. I’m up early for a study session in the library. You know Alex, Katey, and John? Well, we’re going to go to a gallery where some of our professor’s pieces have been installed.”

“Sounds like lots of fun.”

“Yeah, but, you sound off, everything going okay in Jersey?”

“Yeah, really well. I just… I kind of wish I could tell you this in person, but it really can’t wait that long.” Nyssa explained, getting up and walking out to a more secluded area.

“What’s going on, baby?”

“I think we need to…”

“Break up?” She whispered.

“Yeah.”

“Is there someone else?”

“No, no… I just don’t want to weigh you down, Abbey. You need to have fun out in California. Live your life, have the college experience.”

“Nyssa, don’t. Let’s just start with a break.”

“Hasn’t this already been a break?”

“I mean, I guess I just didn’t think we were on a break.”

“Look, I know this will affect our relationship, but I still want to be your friend after this. I still want to know how everything’s going, just not as your girlfriend.”

“... Let me think about that Nyssa. I’ll tell you by Monday.”

“I- Okay.” She nodded before Abbey ended the call.

Nyssa left out a long sigh, just looking down at her phone. She glanced up at the dying LED just outside of their room. It flickered and burned out at one end.

“What an interesting light.” Someone commented. “You could write a whole poem on it.” Nyssa dropped her head to the source- Sara’s roommate. She was wearing a green long sleeved shirt with ΑΣΤ in gold lettering. “Can I talk with you for a sec?”

“Why not?”

Sam sat next to Nyssa, looking at her hands before speaking again. “I just wanted to apologize about what I said last night. Sara is a free spirit which means that she should make her own decisions without my sometimes misguided protective interventions.” She explained.

“Yeah… last night made me realize I was holding onto someone I just needed to let go of.” Nyssa admitted gesturing to her phone.

“Who?”

“My girlfriend. Well, ex-girlfriend now, but I needed to do it.”

“Oh, Sara never said you were dating someone. No wonder why she tried not to let anything happen.”

“Wait, what do you mean?” Nyssa asked turning to Sam.

“I thought it was obvious it’s why I even bothered to mention her attraction to you…” She began, quickly cutting herself off. “Oh, you don’t know that she… wow, not to be homophobic, but you girl-loving-girls are completely oblivious to when someone likes you.”

“That was kind of homophobic, but also more than completely true,” Nyssa admitted. “Wait, so Sara likes me?”

“Oh hell yeah. You should build up the courage to advance your relationship.”

“So, I have your permission?” She sarcastically remarked.

Sam hopped up and nodded. “Yup. Good luck, Nyssa.”


	4. Chapter 4

[Dec. 16th, 2020]

Sara grabbed her bag and began to her friend’s dorm. She had sensed things change between them since that party, but time was ticking down and the semester was ending. A lot of their professors were putting in last minute papers and assignments that were not on the syllabus. This wasn’t even including the breakup Nyssa had had with Abbey, too, so it really didn’t seem too horribly surprising for her to act differently.

She stood outside of Nyssa’s room, waiting for her to come out before they got to their finals. They had decided to take a walk beforehand in order to clear their minds. It was something Samantha had suggested she do with Nyssa, gauge how she felt towards her. Sara wasn’t too sure because while Nyssa appreciated the silence, she hated being alone in her thoughts. She needed noise to distract her from everything else.

Nyssa opened the door, and slid out of it, trying to keep it as tightly closed as she could. According to her, Ashley was a heavy sleeper, until it came to light disturbance and if Nyssa learned anything, it was not to mess with Ash’s sleep.

“She still out?” Sara asked.

“I hope so. I don’t need a repeat of midterms.”

“Yeah, so what exactly happened? I couldn’t really follow from your texts.”

Nyssa slung her backpack over her shoulder as the headed for the stairs. “Well, I was getting ready for our walk and let a bit too much light in and she woke up. After that, I had hell to pay because after I came back from our final, Ash was drinking what was apparently her third cup of coffee because she couldn’t go back to sleep after I “So rudely interrupted her slumber”. I literally just checked to see if you were outside for not even 5 seconds.”

“Oh, so that’s why you told me to meet you up here.”

“Yeah.”

Sara held open the door for Nyssa before they headed for the trail to the quad. It was still a short while before their class started, so Sara suggested they take the longer trail to waste a bit of time. It had seemed like that time passed in mere breaths as they talk to one another about school, the kind of test Professor Wright had described it being, and about Abbey.

“How’s she doing?” Sara asked.

“She’s doing fairly well. She said that her teammates were already getting ready for beach volleyball season and that they were getting together after finals for a party.”

“Sounds fun. I always wondered what it would be like to play a sport at the collegic level.”

“Collegic? You mean Collegiate?”

“Yeah, I think I did.” Sara chuckled. “This is why I’m not an English major.”

“Oh my god, talking about spelling, did I ever tell you about my English 2 teacher?”

“I don’t think so.”

“How have I not told you that yet?” Nyssa chuckled. “Anyway, so she wanted to show us something interesting about the human mind when it reads. So, she wrote out a sentence where… actually, it’d be easier if I just showed you. Can you grab my journal and pen from the middle pocket?” She asked, turning around.

“Sure.” She nodded, unzipping her pack and pulling out a green notebook and a pen from the side mesh pocket.

“So here.” Nyssa wrote out a sentence as they walked down the stone path. She handed it to Sara and explained, “So they say that if you mix up the middle letters of a word, as long as the first and last letters are the same, your brain can reorganize the letters in the middle and understand what’s been written. So, what does that say?”

Sara cocked her head to the side and read the scrambled words from the paper;

“It deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod is, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae.”

“Umm… It doesn’t matter in what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letter is in the right place.”

“Yup, that’s what my professor wrote up on the board, well, partially what she wrote.”

“Let me try,” Sara smirked, writing down a sentence. “Here you go.”

“M’kay.” Nyssa agreed, reading it. “Are you free for a pre-Christmas party over at Alpha Sig this Saturday? Clever, but I can’t. I’m packing up before I head back home.”

“When are you leaving?” Sara asked taking back the notebook and pen before placing them back into Nyssa’s backpack.

“Friday.”

“So soon?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, can I help?”

“Sure. I’m gonna start packing after the finals.”

“How much do you have done?”

“Most of it. Now I just need to pack up all of my personal items I used to decorate my room.”

“So, what’re you doing when you get back home?”

“I’ll probably just work and spend time with my friends.”

“Why not with your family?”

“Well, I don’t celebrate Christmas, so there’s no reason to spend that extra time with my awesomely tense family.”

“You don’t?”

“No. I mean, I’m not Jewish or Muslim, well my dad is and my mom grew up with Buddhism, so we just didn’t celebrate it when I was young.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“I guess I just assumed that you grew up with Christmas. You know, if you ever want to have a taste of the holidays in the Lance household, you’re always invited. I’ll even let you sleep in my room.”

“Really? I think I might just take that on. Just remember that you offered.”

“I will cross my heart.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Sara walked out of the classroom to the stairwell. The final wasn’t too hard, but it did take her a while to finish; unlike Nyssa who finished the test 15 minutes before her. Her friend was sitting under the steps on a bench on her phone.

“Hey,” Sara greeted.

“Hi,” She nodded back. “Wanna go to Jeepers?”

“Sure.”

Nyssa grabbed her backpack and got up. “So, what’d you think about the test?”

“It was not as bad as I thought it would be.”

“Yeah, I’m kind of surprised too. He said that it’d be, like, tough.”

“I think he was trying to scare students away.”

“Really, so late in their college career?”

Sara shrugged and held the door open for Nyssa. “So, what are you thinking about getting?”

“I’m gonna get the usual. What about you?”

“Well, if you’re going to be boring, then I’m getting something new… their daily special, then.”

“What is it?”

“It said outside, but I didn’t read it.”

“If it’s a tuna or fish special, then you’re not helping me today.”

“Fine, my back up’s the California Burger, then.”

When they finally got to the front of the line, Sara let Nyssa go first to order her usual turkey club with extra mustard and no mayo. Sara glanced at the far left board where they had drawn the special; detailed colored chalk drawing of a sandwich named the “Pacific Island Fusion”. Sara glanced at the small print list of ingredients and ordered it.

“No fish.” She informed Nyssa.

“Then get it.” She shrugged finding a table.

Sara joined her by a small booth wedged in the corner of the restaurant, placed the numbers so they were visible.

“So, what made you choose criminal justice?” Nyssa asked.

“If I’m being completely honest, because I was a little shit growing up,” She joked. “I was! God, I was such an idiot as a teen. I have no idea how I got away with it- I mean I do, but I don’t know why my dad let me get away with it.”

A young man came out with their sandwiches, setting them down to each woman’s spot.

“Yours looks really good.” Nyssa nodded.

“Yeah, I wasn’t really sure, but now that I see it, and it actually looks great.”

“Anyway, so what made you change your ways?”

“Well, when I was a senior, this guy Detective Hilton, who- at the time- was not a big fan of my father talked with me. He basically said that I should respect what my dad goes through every day to keep Starling safe. He then invited me on a ride along to see how bad it could get. After going through the Glades, I saw that I was lucky to have him protect me and others so selflessly and so I decided to follow in his footsteps, but I think I’d enjoy being a part of the CIA or FBI.” She explained. “What about you?”

“I just… want to make the world a better place.” She cryptically explained.

“Wow, that’s really sweet, but I feel like there’s more to it than that.”

Nyssa chewed on her lip for a moment before letting out a short huff. “Well, my dad’s not really a great guy and I just don’t want to fall in his footsteps as my sister did.”

“What about Saracon?”

“He’s still young, but I don’t think he’s gonna be like my dad. But, anyway, I just want to help keep peace around the world.”

“So you can stay away from your family.” She pried.

Nyssa rolled her eyes and clenched her jaw at the personal question, “Yes.”

Sara glanced at her, “I’m sorry,” and took a quick bite of her sandwich.

“It’s fine.” She shrugged. “Hey, wanna come over?”

“What about Ash?”

“She should be gone by now.”

“I didn’t realize she was leaving.”

“Yeah, she’s driving back to Connecticut, so that’s why she slept in.”

“Okay, oh, can we watch Bram Stoker’s Dracula? It’s on Netflix right now.”

“Okay… why that one?”

“Because it’s just so bad.”

“All right.” She laughed.

Nyssa glanced at her and took another bite of her food.

“I didn’t mean to pry, sorry.” Sara apologized.

“It’s fine, I haven’t really told you about my whole family situation. It’s a bit complicated.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, Nyssa.” She said handing her a napkin.

“Do I have something on my face?”

“Yeah, mustard on the left side of your chin.”

“Oh.” She took the napkin and wiped her chin with it. “Did I get it?”

“Yeah, enough.”

“Bitch.” She jokingly hissed. “What about now?”

“Yeah.” Sara laughed in response. “You got it.”

“Thank you.” She nodded. “So how was your sandwich?”

“I’d definitely order it again. Too bad it’s just a daily.”

“We’ll have to come by to see if they bring it back next semester.” She noted with a final bite of her meal.

Nyssa stood up and placed a tip on the table before stacking their plates and silverware into a neat stack for the bussers. They walked through the campus to the other side where the dorms were. It wasn’t late, but the sun was getting lower and lower by the moment.

“So is Sam still here?”

“Yeah, she has to get ready for our party as well as she’s been in charge of the study halls until the end of the semester.”

“Sounds really nice.”

“Yeah, Sandra said she’d log it in as volunteer hours.”

“Great, and Sam’s major is in education, right?”

“Yeah, she wants to be a high school science teacher.”

“Wow, so what does she want to teach?”

“She always loved chem in high school, so she’d probably try to teach that.”

Nyssa opened the door for Sara and followed her in, letting Sara quickly show the security guard her key card before they headed up the small staircase to her room. Nyssa jogged up after Sara, holding her keycard out to scan lock and open the door. She took a moment before turning to Sara.

“Everything good? You’ve been actin’ a bit different.”

“I’m just… thinking.”

“Okay, if there’s anything on your mind, you can talk to me. We’re friends, you know?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, walking into her room.

Sara watched her as they pulled out Nyssa’s laptop and logged in to her own Netflix account. She began to search for the film.

“There is actually something bothering me…”

Sara partially closed the laptop and looked at her. “What’s up, dude?”

“I just… I feel like I can tell you, but I don’t know if I should.” Nyssa processed, waiting for Sara to maybe tell her to not tell her, but at the same time, she knew that she could tell her anything and Sara would respect her. “I know I’ve been cryptic about my family, to say the least, I just don’t really know where to start. I could start with my sister’s mom leaving my dad when she was 4 or my dad moving here with his family’s business. But I don’t know.”

“Take your time.”

“Well, ever since I was born, I lived in a beautiful house in a less than ideal area most Iraqi refugees moved to or were drawn to. I never knew why people treated me and Talia so well compared to the other girls. When I got older, I learned that my dad provided protection with less than legal tactics.” She explained; Nyssa really didn’t know why she was telling her these details about herself, but the words flowed out faster than she could stop them. “Then my mom got deported in 2018.”

“What, why?!”

“My dad said that he wasn’t able to keep her here because she was living here on a green card and not as a refugee like him and Talia.” She glanced at Sara for a moment and lifted up the laptop screen. “So if cheating won’t make things better, then we should just make the world better.”

Sara grabbed her hand at the top of the screen and waited. “I’m sorry that that happened.”

“You weren’t the one who sorted through and rejected green cards, and then sent I.C.E. to my front door to send her back to Taiwan.”

“No, I wasn’t, but I’m still-”

“Let’s just watch this crappy movie. I mean, how bad can it be. It has Winona Ryder. She was awesome in Heathers and Beetlejuice.”

“Oh, you would be so surprised,” Sara smirked as she played the film.

Sara pulled the laptop further up onto her lap as dramatic music swelled in the background of this dark red and black film. A cross fell onto the ground as Gary Oldman explained how the Turks took invaded Transylvania. As usual, they chimed in with their usual commentary.

“As if it wasn’t enough to show their symbol covering the fuckin’ map.” Sara chuckled.

“Turk, Turks, Turks are scary.” Nyssa sang as a hand with a sword cheesily graced the screen. “Wait, what the heck?”

“Ooh, hot Gary Oldman.” Sara pointed out.

“Wrong audience. Where’s Winona?” She asked, “Wait, are they Anubis soldiers? Oh, there’s Winona.”

“Wow, that is some age difference.”

“Woah ‘kay, they are just suckin’ face in front of God.”

“Yeah, again, the fuck?”

“Wait, wait! Did we just switch to kabuki theatre?”

“Hmm… yeah, why the jackal helmets? I that even historically correct?”

“Oh, they’re actually speaking Romanian.”

They watched as Gary Oldman cursed god in Romanian at his wife’s death.

“He just stabbed a cross,” Sara remarked.

“And there’s blood everywhere. Why is the cross bleeding?”

“Wait, that’s a lot of fuckin’ blood.”

“What?”

“And welcome to Bram Stoker’s Dracula.”

“What?!”

They continued to watch this trainwreck of a film from Keanu Reeves’ poor on and off accent to the awkward no chemistry love between him and Winona Ryder.

“I love you, Mina.” Sara mocked in Keanu’s robot accent.

“The peacock feathers, you think that’s a sign for-”

“Them boning, yup.”

“How old is this movie?”

Sara shrugged and pulled out her phone. “Over 25 years old now.”

“How long is this movie?” She asked reaching for the touchpad.

“A buh-buh-buh-buh! It ends when it ends.” Sara smirked.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, I want you to suffer through this without knowing when it ends.”

“What is happening? Woah, crow guy’s hand.”

“I think I’d shit myself if I looked over that ledge.”

“Me too.”

“What the hell is that crappy editing?”

“The 90s man.”

“Wow, he looks like Emperor Palpatine.”

“I mean, I have to give it to him, his… accent it pretty good?” Sara said as Gary Oldman cut his hand with a sword.

“What the fuck are we watching?” Nyssa asked.

“I don’t know.”

They were only sixteen minutes into this movie and already, they could see how poorly aged it was.

“What’s the pay off to watching this?”

“There’s a sexy Winona, a lesbian kiss, and weirdly sexual moments and moaning instead of screams for some reason. It’s a really sexual and sensual movie for, like, no reason.”

“Hmm… well too late to turn back now.”

They watched as the film continued on to Mina and Lucy back in England. Nyssa really did see how this film to become extremely sexual with the Arabian Nights section and Lucy feeling up one of her suitors. They had switched to the insane asylum with the doctor who eats bugs and crazily wants to own a kitten or wild cat to feed. Nyssa tried to watch the film, but not only was it so weird, but Sara was really distracting especially when they got to the more sexual scenes. As the vampires were about to go down on Keanu Reeves, Nyssa paused the movie and took a deep breath. Sara lowered the screen to hide the length of the movie.

“Too hot for you?” Sara taunted. “I mean, it was a lot of, like, nipple play and shit.”

Nyssa shook her head and quickly kissed her.

Sara glanced at her, unsure at first about what was happening, and kissed her back. It was satisfying, the way Nyssa kissed her; and Sara admitted to herself that as her friend pulled her close by her crew neck collar, it really made her heart beat a bit faster. How her fingers reached up to the small blonde hairs at the back of her neck and threaded across until her hand was clamped over the back of her neck and she lightly squeezed her spine.

Sara slid over and placed her hand on her jaw. The laptop loudly clattered against the wall as she twisted closer to Nyssa.

“Fuck,” Sara muttered as she reached for the computer.

Nyssa pulled away first, looking into her sky blue eyes. “I actually have a few things to tell you.”

“You don’t say.”

“I really like you, Sara.”

“Yeah, I can tell.”

“No, I mean when I first met you, I fell for you,” Nyssa explained.

“I… wait, so at that Halloween party, were you jealous?”

“Yeah.” Nyssa muttered, “I was too scared to tell you how I felt, though.”

“Well, you still had a girlfriend. I don’t blame you.” Sara nodded, “And if I’m being honest, then I fell for you pretty quickly, hell, for the longest time, you were the “Pretty One” in my contacts. I just didn’t know how to tell you. I’m kinda glad you kissed me.”

“Me, too,” Nyssa smirked as she played the movie again.

Sara chuckled and lunged over to kiss her again, gripping her hip to stay balanced. Nyssa held onto her bicep as she tried to stay on the twin bed.

Sara chuckled as Nyssa pulled away again, this time steadying the laptop so they could continue to watch the movie.

“This is a better movie than Twilight.”

“Yeah, but not much better.”

Nyssa shrugged and continued to watch Dracula while Sara shifted into Nyssa’s bright red and pastel yellow pillows.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was almost completely quiet in the dorms; save for the muffled conversations from the hallway as Nyssa woke up. Sunlight blared into the small messy room that was filled with empty and partially full boxes, and rays refracted into her eyes. She looked at the fully opened curtains, squinting at the harsh brightness. Her gaze wavered down to Sara- who was no longer relaxed into the pillow, but tucked against Nyssa’s embrace- as she slept soundly. She watched as Sara’s chest rose and relaxed with every breath she took.

Nyssa felt her heart beat faster as she regarded Sara’s position. She looked at her arm- which was lazily draped over her stomach- and her messy blonde hair that partially covered her face from the sun. Sara’s head was a dead weight against her heart, listening in her sleep to every beat.

Nyssa remembered watching her friend drift off to the seemingly endless movie, but she didn’t realize that they would end up in this position. She knew that she had to start packing before driving back to Newport, but she also didn’t want to wake Sara as she got ready. Nyssa gently lifted Sara’s arm from across her body and placed it next to her. She then slipped her hand under her friend’s head and gently set it on the pillow.

Nyssa slipped out of her spot and began to pack the smaller items in a small box by the window. As much as she hated going home, she couldn’t wait to see her friends again, something to distract her about what happened between her and Sara. It took so long for her to build up the confidence, she was torn between being with her or just focusing on her studies. Nyssa glanced back at her friend- still slumped into the bed- and placed her laptop in the box with the charger and mouse bundled up. Nyssa crawled to the edge of the bed and searched for the case.

THUNK

SSSKSH

Nyssa cursed to herself as she heard the case fall off of the cross hatch under her bed and slide even further under her bed. She hit her head against the mattress and crawled down to her stomach, pushing her way under to search for the case.

“Nyssa?” Sara called from the bed. “Whatcha doin’ down there buddy?”

“Oh, you know, packing.”

“Want help?”

“I mean, with some of my other things yeah, we never really got to it,” Nyssa explained, sliding out from under her bed with the computer case. “You know… because of the… our… or the… kiss.”

“Yeah, we… kissed, and I feel okay about it.”

“Me, too.”

“Anyway, what’d you think about the movie?”

Nyssa shrugged and smirked, “It was not a great film at all. I spent the rest of the time wondering when it would end.”

“When’d you fall asleep?”

“I remember, like, a chase.” Nyssa began to laugh as she packed her clothes, “Keanu Reeves’ accent was so bad!”

“I know right?”

“It’s like a surfer dude and an Aussie had a baby.” Nyss chuckled, sliding a box closed.

“But we should really talk about last night.” Sara offered, folding a shirt.

“Do we have to?”

“No, no we don’t.”

“But, we should, shouldn’t we?”

“Probably.” She shrugged. Sara sat on the bed after closing the clothes box, “Come here; this can wait.”

Nyssa slumped down next to Sara, trying not to make eye contact with her, but feeling those icy blue eyes on her anyway. She kind of felt like a dog; while Sara wasn’t in her sight, she felt like she was hidden enough to stay away from the necessary conversation. Sara wanted to reach out to Nyssa but knew that that would only make Nyssa more closed off.

“We don’t have to actually talk about the kiss, we can talk about other things, too. You know, if you have any questions for or about me, now’s the perfect time to ask me.”

“How many people have you dated?”

“Oh, umm… three, four, four? Yeah, four people, officially.” Sara explained. “Three boys and a girl. The only one my parents approved of was this boy named Clayton, but he was kind of an asshole.”

“My dad never really approved of any of the boys I dated. He said that they weren’t “The Right Ones” for me. He sort of accepted that I was gay, moreover that he didn’t want to lose me.”

“What about Abbey?”

“It helped that she was an Iraqi-Yemeni-Omanis girl, so I was kind of dating in my racial group like the other kids in my area, but she was fourth gen not second like me”

“Fourth gen?”

“Her great-grandparents immigrated here. It’s just a stupid thing my dad had a problem with. I mean, why put that pressure on us when he was with my mom, who- by the way- wasn’t even middle eastern? Anyway, what about you?”

“I mean, my parents weren’t really surprised that I was bi. They just wanted me to find anyone who was good enough for me… or that I was good enough for.” Sara glanced over at Nyssa, gauging her reaction, “And… I think I’ve found them.”

“Oh, yeah, who?” Nyssa scoffed.

“Oliver Queen.” Sara shrugged before rolling her eyes, “You, of course.”

“So… what does this mean for us?”

“I mean, I wouldn’t protest dating?”

“Neither would I.” Nyssa shrugged, trying to control her blushing cheeks.

Sara chuckled and pecked her cheek, watching as a dark spread of blush spread across her face.


	5. Chapter 5

[Dec. 19th, 2020]

Sara sat rested against her counter in the Epsilon Theta house. The music thumped and blared as the Sigs took over the once Christmas themed playlist and added some EDM to it. She had a southern spell in her hand while talking with her Little. They had been conversing about the next year’s classes. Elise was a STEM major with a focus on Computer Science. Sara’s phone rang and buzzed in her back pocket, distracting her from her conversation with her. Elise glanced down at Sara’s caller ID.

“Nyssa?” She asked.

“Must be nice to snoop from up there,” she taunted, “Excuse me for a moment.” Elise nodded, flipping the puff on Sara’s Santa hat as she left to join the other girls. Sara rolled her eyes and walked down the basement as she answered the phone. “Hey, baby-girl. I’m going to a room where I can hear you, it’s a bit loud up here.”

“Okay.”

Sara jogged down the steps until the music was muffled enough to hear her on the other end of the line.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Hey, I was wondering if next semester you want to move into an apartment.”

“Wait, wait, what?”

“Move into an apartment, like, with a few other students,” Nyssa explained.

“I don’t think so. I really like the residence halls. The meal plan and easy access to classes, we get some priority with classes, bike rentals are almost free, we get to get into the Well on a discount, and-”

“I know the perks.” Nyssa huffed.

“And I think we should wait before moving in together. I don’t want to be a U-Haul, Nyssa.”

“I get it, okay?” She groaned.

Sara took a moment, rolling her eyes before sighing, “What? What’s going on? We’ve been together for all of, like, two-three days and you’re already getting mad at me. I’m just trying to have fun, dude,” She told her. “I’ll call you on Monday when I’m back home, okay?”

“Fine.”

“Bye.”

Nyssa ended the call, rolling her eyes as she turned off her phone. Sara got emotional over some of the smallest things and it really pissed her off sometimes. She didn’t mean to sound annoyed, but Sara also didn’t need to lash out. Nyssa rolled her eyes again as she sent in her different resumes for holiday jobs.

[Dec. 21st, 2020]

She frantically called Nyssa again, waiting for an answer from the other side of the line in Rhode Island. Sara sat in her old room, waiting and hoping for her girlfriend to pick up. 3 days and she couldn’t keep her shit together. 3 days and she was already getting mad at Nyssa for things like moving in together even though if they were just friends she would have considered it.

“Hey, you settled in?” Nyssa answered.

“Yeah, yes, thanks. You?”

“Yeah. back in my old room. Bottom bunk as per usual.” She joked, waiting. “That was supposed to be a double entendre.”

“Oh, oh… bottom, yeah.” Sara scoffed, “I’m so sorry for how I acted. It was just so childish.”

“Hey, it’s all right, babe. I didn’t act like an adult at that Halloween party, so, we’re even.”

“Even, yeah. There still wasn’t a reason for me to act like that. I tried calling you yesterday.”

“Yeah, I saw your messages…” Nyssa trailed. “But, going back to the apartment conversation, you’re right. We should stay in the dorms. It’s cheaper and easier than an apartment.”

“And the rooming situation?”

“We should enjoy visiting each other.”

“Okay.”

“You gonna try to get Sam again?”

“Yeah. I’ve roomed with her for two and a half years now. You know, when we get closer to graduation, we can talk about moving in together.” Sara explained. “Hey, do you think we could get together over the break?”

“Yeah, I mean, I’m working two jobs, but I’ll have to check out my schedule.”

“You know, like I said, if you ever want to have a taste of the holidays, you can come to my place.” Sara offered.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“M’kay, talk to you later?”

“Call me at 12:30, I’m usually getting lunch then.”

“Okay.”

“Later, babe.”

“Later.”

[Dec. 25th, 2020]

“So, this means that this is my first official beer,” Sara cockily asked.

“Officially, yes, but we both know that’s not true.” Laurel jibed.

Quentin handed Sara a bottle of Blue Moon and his favorite blue SCPD swiss army knife. Sara had used the bottle opener part of it before. When she was 11, she got a hold of it to open a Mexican bottle of Coke and sliced her middle finger when she accidentally used the can opener side instead. Now there was a discolored line on her left finger, a distinction that sometimes got her caught. She popped open the brown bottle with the old knife and handed it back to her dad. She took a long swig from the bottle and set it down by her mom’s iced tea.

“Yeah, definitely not your first beer,” Her father remarked with a smirk to hide his pride.

Sara winked at him before going back to the kitchen to make the mashed potatoes. She kept mixing the butter and concentrated milk in the metal bowl. Laurel helped her start baking the different sides. Dinah was out giving out some gifts and food to her students who couldn’t go home for the holidays. It was something that had started back in 2017 after her and her colleagues found that there were a lot of students who might not be able to go back home and then return for school for the winter break.

Uncle Ripley was helping Quentin put the leap table while Auntie Sally began setting up the chairs. Grandpa Joe and Fred were talking in the living room as they watched collegiate men’s basketball. Grandma Mary was helping cook the turkey, taking her daughter’s place for the time being. Sara heard their long doorbell drone through the house. She glanced at her dad, who just shrugged.

“Can you get that?” He asked, taking her spot for the rolls she was now working on.

“Okay,” She shrugged, wiping the thin sheen of sweat from her forehead. “If it’s a JW, then you owe me another beer.”

“Another one, you haven’t even finished this one?”

“You still owe me one if I’m right.”

“Okay.” He laughed.

Sara rounded the corner as the bell rang again. “Coming!” She called in response.

She opened the door, standing face to face with Nyssa. Sara stood there, speechless as she looked down at her from the front door. Sara took a few timid steps forward before collapsing into Nyssa’s embrace. She began laughing and crying as she gripped onto Nyssa’s maroon jacket.

“Oh my god! What are you doing here?” She asked through tears.

“You said I could come over?” Nyssa explained. Sara rolled her eyes and hugged her again. “Hey, you wanna know the best part about this?”

“What could be better than this?”

“We got, like, four angles of this.”

“What?” Sara asked turning around to see Uncle Rip, Laurel, and their cousin Will recording them. “Where’s the other camera?” She laughed as she wiped her eyes.

“Behind me.” Nyssa nodded to the cobblestone wall by their door.

“So, Sar-bear, how do you feel?” Laurel asked, walking up to her sister.

“I don’t know,” She laughed in response.

“Dad?”

“Ugly Cry!” He proclaimed to his daughter’s phone.

“Okay,” She laughed, ending the video.

“All right, let’s leave them alone,” Dinah interrupted, walking into the house and shooing everyone back in. “It’s too cold out here.”

“Oh, happy birthday!” Nyssa smiled as they walked inside.

“Thank you, as far as birthdays go, this is the best one by far.”

“Hey, what about Jingle Ball?” Laurel called from the kitchen.

“It’s been topped.”

“I didn’t come empty handed” Nyssa whispered, presenting a box wrapped in black “Happy Birthday” gift wrap to her.

“Thank you!” She smiled, “I wish I got you one.”

Sara took the box and lead Nyssa through the house, passing by their Christmas tree where she placed the present. She walked to the kitchen and poured them both a cup of tea.

“Do you like sugar?”

“I like milk and honey in mine,” Nyssa told her.

“Right, you always bought milk with your, yeah.”

“Yup.” She shrugged.

Sara handed her her cup and continued to the covered back porch. She glanced around, trying to spot where her relatives were. Nyssa watched her every movement, just as she had months earlier with great curiosity and interest. She took a sip from the hot cup and rested against the faux wooden railing. Sara glanced at the snowy scape and then at her hot tub.

“So, what’s on your mind?” Nyssa asked.

“A lot. How’d you get here?”

“Well, Laurel must have gotten your phone because she called me from it and said that she wanted to bring me over to surprise you. I agreed because I was hoping to see you sometime soon. So, I got some money together and got the cheapest flight here and… well, here I am! It was so hard not to tell you. Every time we talked or texted, I just wanted to say, “See you soon, babe!”, but I didn’t want to ruin it.”

“I’m glad you’re here.” Sara smiled. “Next, we should talk about school.”

“So early?”

“Yup. After you talked about that apartment stuff, I began to think about the work I’d need to do to become an agent. It’s gonna take a lot longer than you. I need at least 4 years of experience before they even consider me.”

“Well after school, I have to go to bootcamp for 10 months then I join in the Blue Berets. I’m glad you brought this up, Sara.”

“You are?”

“Well, yeah, I think that it’s good that we’re talking about this. I think we should talk about our future.”

Sara shrugged and nodded slightly, “I kind of just want to live in the moment.”

“Humor me, then.” Nyssa invited as she sat down on a lawn chair. “Let’s live in the moment but think about our future a bit. I’m excited and, you know, a bit scared about my future as a Blue Beret, you must feel the same about police work?”

She hesitated for a moment before agreeing with her girlfriend, “Yeah, I am.”

“And if we’re being honest, what about our relationship? Not only dating but as friends?”

“We’ll talk about it after Christmas. For now, I just want to enjoy the fact that you’re here with me.”

“Okay,” Nyssa agreed, pecking her cheek, “Need any help in the kitchen?”

“Sure, why not?” Sara nodded, walking back inside.


	6. Chapter 6

[Jan. 25th, 2021]

First day of the Spring semester. It was still cold as hell as the winter lingered for a bit longer than the previous year. Her new roommate was Enrica Arona, a tall Italian exchange student Nyssa felt she’d enjoy more than Ash. They had originally met in the local GSA chapter but had reconvened when she decided to join the Crossfit Club.

Nyssa placed a box the last box of clothes on her bed and slipped the flaps open. She pulled out her long-sleeved shirts first, placing them in her wardrobe while Enrica rested on her bed. Nyssa turned to her roommate and huffed.

“What is it?” Erica asked in her mid-range voice.

“I’m already tired.” She laughed.

“Should work out more.” She suggested with a laugh.

“Yeah, I should.” Nyssa chuckled looking down at her arms.

She sat down on the wooden floor and closed her eyes, resting her head against the mattress. Nyssa couldn’t believe just how tired she was, after her long drive to New Jersey, she just wanted to pass out. She felt Enrica’s bony hand on her back and turned around.

“You should get some rest. Class does not start for another three days.” She suggested.

“You’re right, I’m gonna catch some Zs”

“Is that an idiom for sleep?”

“Yup, well come to America. We have way too many metaphors and idioms.” She joked, moving the boxes under the boxspring as she slid into her bed.

Instantly, Nyssa felt a warm rush flow through her body as she began to slump into slumber. She collapsed into her pillow, not bothering to completely cover herself with the blanket Sara had made for her. She felt another hand on her back, rubbing slow meandering circles into her lats.

“I don’t need your help to sleep, Enrica.” Nyssa groaned.

“Well, good thing I’m not Enrica.” A familiar voice taunted.

“SARA!” She exclaimed.

“Hey, baby girl.”

Nyssa quickly turned to face Sara, pulling her down into a hug. Sara chuckled and hugged her back, pecking her on the cheek and sliding closer to her.

“Oh my god, I missed you so much! Rhode Island is very boring when I’m not with you.”

“Oh really?” Sara asked.

“Yup.”

“Well, I should let you get some rest, just wanted to visit you,” Sara smirked as she got up.

“Oh no, you don’t.” Nyssa smiled, pulling Sara onto her twin bed.

Sara chuckled and snuggled into her, wrapping her arms around Nyssa’s torso. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She yawned.

“Now, remember that this is where we first said “I love you”.”

“Why?”

“In case we play the Newlyweds game.”

“I thought you wanted to take your time?” Nyssa joked, tilting her head down to look at her. “Maybe you were what my father was talking to you about?”

“About the “Right One”?”

“Mmhm.” She nodded.

Sara chuckled and smirked, “Just maybe?” She asked, looking up to kiss her girlfriend. “You know, I could send you letters when you’re over in boot camp.”

“I’d really love that, Sara.”

“Good, cause I’d send you letters anyway.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this story, should I write a sequel? Should I write a new story? Send me prompts and I'll put them in my queue!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Enjoy what you read, leave a like and tell me your thoughts!


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